Comfortable Murray through to third round

Andy Murray came away with a comfortable 6-3 6-2 win from his match with Sergiy Stakhovsky in the 2nd round in Barcelona.

The match was a solid one from Andy, although not one that set the court alight. After offering Stakhovsky a break point in the opening service game, he followed up by holding to love in the next and putting pressure on the Stakhovsky serve. A couple of missed 1st serves from the Ukrainian let Murray into the game and a double fault handed him the only break necessary in the first set.

Despite going down a break, Stakhovsky raised his intensity and showed off his speed and movement around the court. Repeatedly he landed drop shot after drop shot, forcing Andy to run the length of the court to return it, only to have it pushed long down the line.

Murray however, was looking much more comfortable on the clay. In what was obviously a deliberate move Andy played (for the most part) further up the court, standing closer to the baseline. It was here that the main difference could be seen in how Murray is approaching the clay in Barcelona as opposed to Monte Carlo.

Murray took the first set after 42 minutes of play, despite a 1st serve percentage of 50%. He made that first serve count though, winning the majority points and keeping Stakhovsky comfortably at bay.

The second set opened in much the same way that the first had, with drop shots from Stakhovsky and running from Murray. Both players held serve and the set looked like it could see a few back to back service games when Stakhovsky’s game fell apart. 4 unforced errors in a row; finished off by a horrible miss-hit, handed Andy the break to lead 2-1.

The following service game from Andy consolidated the break and featured both his 1st and 2nd aces of the match. Stakhovsky’s earlier aggressiveness and intensity all but vanished and a passive service game from him gave Andy another break to lead 4-1.

Andy raced through his service game for 5-1, and then Stakhovsky fought and held serve for 5-2. Andy served for the match, and despite going down 0-30 he held serve to win the match 6-3 6-2.

Good report Hazel Apart from Andy's lack of first serves getting in, in the 2nd set I found myself shouting at the screen stop going back from the baseline Andy Noticed that he wasn't muttering to himself, maybe Lendl had a word

Thanks Hazel. Missed most of the match but it sounds not too nerve-wracking!

As I (try to) understand it, Andy has to reach the final to gain any ranking points - anything less will go to his non-countables. So he's not gaining on Fed yet, but hopefully will get some useful match practice in.